The Day of the Triffids

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2005)

I was researching info. re: The Day of the Triffids and came across an interesting comparison of this book to 28 Days Later (NB - am not making any reference to the disastrous cinematic attempt). The Day of the Triffids is such a classic Sci Fi novel - 50 years strong - and it was pleasantly surprising to see an edgy movie like 28 Days presumably use so much of Wyndham's material (eg: entire opening sequence).
Although 28 Days had got all the makings of a Zombie Flick with its portents of apocalyptic doom, the message is arguably more than this. In The Day of the Triffids, the main story is not so much about the uprising of walking, carnivorous plants as placing more importance on how the survivors respond to the end of the world as we know it. At what lengths will groups of people will go to, to reforge something that is lost? How can 'normal' society be recreated in the context of what has happened? Although Wyndham is able to go into these questions in some detail (he wrote a book), 28 Days attempts to address these issues too, notably when Jim and his crew meet up with the major's lot.
The Day of the Triffids was read post-28 Days, and it was this book that helped me view the film in a bright new light